family & friends

Living the suburban dream! I could not ask for a more wonderful family and network of friends. My wife Angie and son Koen are the center of my life. Whether we are riding our bikes, going out to eat, or just sitting on the couch and watching Survivor, we always find a way to absolutely enjoy one another.

So often in life our most anticipated plans fall short of expectations. However, even though I had been looking forward to this father-son ride for weeks, the time I spent talking and joking with my 10 year old on this glorious afternoon ride greatly exceeded any...

It started out a little chilly, but Saturday morning was a great day to ride out to Chilkoot Cafe in Stillwater with the Erik's Regional Race Team. Six of us (Matt Petersen, Andy Keogh, Peter Hagerty, Laszlo Alberti, & Ben Schinke) met at Minnehaha Park to begin the...

The 2016 Ken Woods Memorial Road Race in Cannon Falls, MN on Saturday was Koen’s first USA Cycling sanctioned road race. At 10 years old, Koen has been riding his bike with me for the last 5 years and he has also competed in a couple of time trials, duathalons, and...

Koen has participated in the Oxbow Creek Elementary Arts and Academic Expo every year since kindergarten. His projects have varied from Lego creations to sports cards about monsters and meerkats, to photograph compositions. This year he was interested in creating a...

If you don’t own a fat bike and you live in Minnesota you’re doing it wrong. Where were these things when I was a kid? Of course there are times when it’s too cold to ride, too icy to ride, or it’s thawing and riding would ruin the trails. However, for those times...

In an effort to test my new GoPro Hero 4 Black and the Hangtime 2 luts from Ground Control, Koen and I competed in a LEGO Star Wars Throwdown. How long could it possibly take to construct a Tie Fighter with only 47 pieces? Just over five minutes for the both of us I...

It was an extra "Specialized" Christmas at the Prenzlows as Koen's big gift was a new Specialized DSW SL Comp Allez. I'm really not sure who was more excited? Koen or me? I cannot wait until next spring when we are both able to ride and race together. It should...

We have never been the type of family driven by traditions, but we may be starting a new one? This was our second year celebrating Angie's Christmas at the Mankato City Center Hotel in Mankato, MN and it has been a great time both years. The wide-open space around the...

Who doesn't love to hold a new baby? It's not very often that you have a brand new nephew in the family and they sure don't stay brand new very long. It was only appropriate that we went down to Sherburn, MN to visit my sister-in-law Nikki and brother-in-law Jake on...

eflecting back on an uncharacteristically busy Saturday that involved a round-trip to gramma and grampa’s in Mapleton, a 50-mile bike ride in Henderson, and an evening out in Minneapolis, I’m not sure one...

I’m not going to lie. Assembling this Weber Spirit Gas grill may have been the highlight of my day. As much as I have complained about needing to assemble modular furniture or small appliances over the years, the nine-year-old LEGO lover in me still welcomes a good...

An urge to travel to faraway places has never called me like other endeavors have. In fact, I’m sure Angie could quickly count the number of out-of-state vacations we have taken together--obviously not enough in her opinion. So, when my sister presented the...

Last week Koen and I both bought Fat Bikes at Erik’s Bike Shop after finally talking Angie into the idea. It was a Specialized Fatboy 24 for Koen and a Specialized Fatboy SE for me. I had thought about just getting one for myself for years, but I always had something...

I can't express how much I appreciate my family for putting up with requests like this one. I just had to get a record of a couple of our favorite family memories from 2014 and what we were looking forward to the most in 2015. We did not share our answers with one...

Do you remember who your best friend was when you were nine? It may have been a friend you had for years or possibly someone you knew for a very short time, but if you were anything like me that bond was special. Times change and people are very different, but this...

Nothing makes me feel more like a suburban dad than celebrating New Year’s Eve with the neighbors, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. New Year’s Eve has always been a funny holiday as it is the last hurrah in a month of eating and drinking celebrations. As a kid...

Another week of Three Questions between Koen and I. This week is the Christmas Edition. I had no idea who he would choose between being the President of the United States or Santa Claus, but I guess I wasn't surprised by his answer. I loved his question about going...

It has been several years since we made it down to Mapleton and Winnebago for Christmas Eve and Christmas. My sister usually flies in from Seattle a few days after the actual holiday, so we time our trip to match. However, with her trip not falling until Martin Luther...